News & updates

List of 5 news stories.

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  Cowichan Valley Art Show Success

  4/4/2025
  Shawnigan took the Cowichan Valley visual arts community by storm in March.

   

  Six students took part in the Cowichan Valley Art Council’s Youth Arts Showcase last month, titled “Unfiltered: Unleash Your Authenticity,” with three of those students getting special recognition for their work.

   

  Luona Y. (Grade 11) received an Award of Excellence for “The Highchair,” and Scarlett S. (Grade 12) received a Juror’s Choice Award for “I Said Stop.” Sharon X. (Grade 11) was given an honourable mention. Both Luona and Scarlett took home gift certificates for their achievements, and Scarlett also received a small glass sculpture. Olive S., Yumi L. and Vivi M. also submitted pieces to the show, which featured a total of 89 entries from 77 young artists across the Cowichan Valley.

   
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  Spring Break Trips and Tours

  4/4/2025
  Our students fanned out all over the globe over Spring Break, many returning home for time with their families, but others taking advantage of School trips and tours to expand their horizons academically and athletically as well as seeing new parts of the world.

   

  Harvard Model Congress Europe in Belgium

   

  Ten Model UN students travelled to Belgium with teachers Mr. Paul Klassen and Mrs. Andrea Carballo as Shawnigan’s first-ever delegation to the Harvard Model Congress Europe in Brussels. Founded in 1987, HMC Europe is an annual event that looks at institutions of international governance.

   

  Shawnigan’s first foray to HMC Europe was exceptional, with six students receiving awards. Ugo W. and Steven D. received the Presidential Cabinet Award, while honourable mentions went to Alan A. (NATO Committee), Shannon C. (Senate Judiciary Committee), Valentina H. (Senate Foreign Relations Committee), Markellan K. (Historical Committee – Cuban Missile Crisis).

   
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  Roboteers Rewarded at Regionals

  3/13/2025
  Shawnigan’s robotics program narrowly missed qualifying a team for the VEX World Championships, but still collected some impressive awards at the Regional Championships hosted by Brentwood College School last weekend. The School sent two teams to the event, and both posted what robotics instructor Dr. Ed Taylor called “amazing results” and brought home trophies.

   

  The team of Kaho H., Eric H., Zoe C., Christian W., and John P. won a Judges Award, which recognizes attributes judges feel are deserving of special recognition. The judges commented that the team members were "very organized with their time management and had a clear understanding of the Engineering Design Process." The team made it to the quarter finals of the main competition.

   

  The team of Tony Z., Justin T., Bella Z., and Aaron N. won the Create Award, which recognizes “a creative engineering design solution to one or more of the challenges of the competition." The team made it to the semifinals of the main competition. 

   
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  Shawnigan Celebrates Holi

  3/13/2025
  Shawnigan students enjoyed a joyous and colourful sendoff before Spring Break with a celebration of the Holi festival on Wednesday evening.

   

  Celebrated throughout India and around the world by members of the Indian diaspora, Holi has multiple meanings within the Hindu culture, including rejuvenation and the arrival of spring. Part of the celebration includes the tossing of coloured powder, and this was central to the event at Shawnigan on Wednesday, as hundreds of students gathered in the Quad to throw coloured powder at each other, creating a chaotic and exuberant rainbow.

   

  That was followed by a delectable Spirit Meal in Marion Hall, as the kitchen team treated students to an Indian feast including butter chicken, palak paneer curry, naan, papadum, rice, onion pakora, lentil daal, roasted cauliflower and green beans, and gujiya for dessert.
  
  
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  Lessons from Moccasins

  3/7/2025
  Students learned valuable lessons and skills and came away with hand-crafted footwear following a weeks-long moccasin-making workshop run by Outdoor Education Instructor and Teacher Mr. Devin Ryan.

   

  Mr. Ryan has received direct instruction in leatherwork from an accomplished Annishnaabe artisan, and wanted to share those skills, and the appreciation that comes from learning them, with Shawnigan students.

   

  While Mr. Ryan was studying Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, the university’s Indigenous student centre had an open-door policy and offered moccasin-making workshops with Helen Pelletier of the nearby Fort William First Nation. Through those workshops, Mr. Ryan learned leatherwork and how to bead, and most importantly, patience.

   

  “There are lots of lessons to be learned from perseverance,” he said.

   
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